1. Technical Field
The invention relates to the format of digital video discs (DVD). More particularly, the invention relates to the expansion of functionality of DVD content for compatible digital video recorders and DVD players.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Digital Video Discs or DVDs, have become as popular as VCR tapes. In a short time, DVD players may replace VCRs. Sales of DVD players have been increasing dramatically each year. The manufacturers of DVDs envision the DVD to replace not only VCR tapes, but CDs, laserdiscs, and video game cartridges.
Currently, DVDs offer a platform that can store up to 15.9 GBs of video and audio data on a single disc. However, a typical recordable DVD can only store approximately 4.7 GBs of data.
More recently, digital video recorders (DVR) have emerged in the marketplace. One example is U.S. Pat. No. 6,233,389 owned by the Applicant. There are a number of technology trends in force today that are continuing to expand the opportunities for DVR functionality. These trends, whose initial existence directly led to the invention of the DVR, are: the increasing density of gates on semiconductor media; and the increasing density of magnetic storage on hard drive platters.
As content broadcasters transition to pure digital broadcasts, the entire pathway from the broadcast station to the viewer is turning digital. DVRs are on the forefront of offering digital storage and display solutions to the viewer. DVRs offer the viewer increased control of the storage and playback of recorded broadcast programs. The user has the ability to pause and rewind through live broadcast programs which was never feasible using VCRs.
Even though the hard disks in a DVR can be very large (hundreds of gigabytes), the ability to backup and play stored program material using a DVD player/recorder was not considered until U.S. Pat. No. 6,233,389. This combination offers the DVR user the advantage of creating a large library of program material stored on DVDs.
However, one problem arises when playing DVDs that are formatted using the DVD standard. When a DVD is played, it is very difficult to perform special effects such as fast forward and rewind through the program material with the same granularity as with program material stored on a DVR. Moreover, it is impossible to go to arbitrary positions within the DVD content without having to perform multiple reads of the content. Each read contributes a high latency.
To perform the same type of DVR special effects on a standard DVD player requires expensive reads of sections of the DVD disc and the granularity would not be up to the standards of a DVR.
It would be advantageous to provide a method and apparatus for creating an expanded functionality digital video disc (DVD) that gives a user the ability to perform fine granularity special effects on DVD program material played on a DVR and a DVD player. It would further be advantageous to provide a method and apparatus for creating an expanded functionality digital video disc that carries additional information about the DVD program material that is useful to a DVR.